Ministry of Defence
Inauguration of Hypersonic Wind Tunnel at DRDO Hyderabad
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh visited DRDO’s Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex during his visit to Hyderabad on 19th Dec 2020. Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri G Kishan Reddy and Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO accompanied him during the visit. Cluster DGs, Lab Directors and Programme Directors briefed the dignitaries about the ongoing projects and technological developments. On this occasion, Hyderabad based DRDO labs showcased various indigenously developed systems and technologies in wide ranging areas including missiles, avionics systems, advanced materials, electronic warfare, quantum key distribution technology, directed energy weapons, Gallium Arsenide and Gallium Nitride technology capabilities.
During his visit, two anti-drone technologies were demonstrated by DRDO labs to Raksha Mantri. DRDO Young Scientists’ Laboratory - Asymmetric Technologies  and RCI demonstrated drone and innovative anti-drone technologies. It has multiple capabilities including neutralizing ground targets and anti-drone applications to counter stationery as well as high-speed moving targets. Key features of the weapon system include secure communication link, effective recoil management system, high firing angular resolution and vision-based target detection and tracking.
On this occasion, Raksha Mantri inaugurated the advanced Hypersonic Wind Tunnel  test facility. The state-of-the-art HWT Test facility is pressure vacuum driven enclosed free jet facility having nozzle exit diameter of 1 meter and will simulate Mach No 5 to 12 . After USA and Russia, India is the third country to have such a large facility in terms of size and operating capability. It is an indigenous development and an outcome of synergistic partnership with Indian industries. The facility has the capability to simulate hypersonic flow over a wide spectrum and will play a major role in the realization of highly complex futuristic aerospace and defence systems.
During the exhibition of a range of missile systems, various avionic systems and other technologies, scientists explained all the systems and technologies in detail and Hon’ble Raksha Mantri showed keen interest in the technical explanations and demonstrations.
Shri Kishan Reddy laid the foundation stone of Explosive Test Facility for Propellant and Explosive Systems. This facility will be used for design validation and evaluation of missile sub-systems under different environmental conditions. He appreciated the efforts of DRDO for developing such a large number of systems. He said that he is happy that so much of high technology work is happening in the Hyderabad region, the region where he belongs.
Raksha Mantri addressed the DRDO fraternity and applauded the phenomenal technological achievements and recent series of successful missions and technological achievements by various clusters of DRDO including Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle , Anti-Radiation Missile , Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile , Supersonic Missile Assisted Release Torpedo  and Quantum Key Distribution  technology during last six months. He lauded DRDOs contributions, despite COVID pandemic conditions, towards strengthening Atmanirbhar Bharat and for leading the indigenous development of state-of-the-art technology products and innovative solutions. He congratulated Dr G Satheesh Reddy for DRDO’s contribution to the development of technologies and products for combatting COVID-19 Pandemic. Also he acknowledged the tremendous efforts in establishment of COVID-19 hospitals at Delhi and Bihar, development of indigenous ventilators, PPE kits and other protective equipment in short span of time.
Shri Rajnath Singh appreciated the endeavors of contributions of DRDO Young Scientist Labs and said DRDO needs to focus on next generation needs including cyber security, space and artificial intelligence and evolve roadmaps. The immense potential available in DRDO has been a catalyst for the development of industries and defence manufacturing sector. RM urged DRDO scientists to make India a Super Military Power thereby making India a Super Power.